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Author: wishbonafide

Put away your copy of Marlowe and do your best not to trade away your soul, because this episode focuses on Wolfgang von Goethe’s version of “Faust,” and Wishbone’s “Fleabitten Bargain” – featuring guest Nick Johnston!

About Our Guest

Nick Johnston is originally from upstate New York but now lives between New Jersey and Wyoming. A graduate of Loyola University Maryland, Nick is pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy at KU Leuven with a focus on Continental philosophy. He enjoys reading world literature, Dungeons & Dragons, playing music, and the outdoors.

Claire

I can’t help myself, I love musicals. Try out the 1972 adaptation of the 1968 musical, Man of La Mancha. It has a really lovely cast album, too. But on a less La Mancha centric note, I think you rather might enjoy Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). It is a gorgeous and mythic yarn spun in a more blatantly dark (though I would argue equally so when you consider Don Quixote’s sad state and the destruction that follows him. And also, it’s spanish. But more importantly, it revolves around a girl, Ofelia, who becomes lost and deeply buried in her dreams and imaginations (or her reality) and tries to escape the Francoist Spanish Civil War terror that besets her pregnant mother and herself. It is one of my favorite films of all time, and I am fine with making a bit of a stretch in order to recommend it, but I think it fits very well thematically.

I am rather a fan of the TV Movie Don Quixote from the year 2000. It stars John Lithgow as the titular role and he is simply delightful to watch and walks the line of funny and concerningly delusional with aplomb. I will throw in, if you’re looking for a different look at what it takes to make a movie like this, try looking a bit at the unfinished Orson Welles’Don Quixote(1992), which features perhaps the most tragic titular lead…the filmmaker. Welles had a great deal of trouble producing his melancholy adaptation, and it was posthumously edited and released incompletely, which really underlines the frustration and high flying dreams that fall to ground of both Quixote and Welles. Good stuff, good stuff.

There must be giants! At least we think so….in this episode about Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” and Wishbone’s “The Impawssible Dream” – with guest Kaitlyn Gallagher!

About Our Guest

Kaitlyn is a native of New Jersey currently working in public relations for the non-profit sector. In her free time, Kaitlyn enjoys writing and performing sketch comedy, reading as many books as her busy schedule allows, watching Twitter feuds unfold, and sitting motionless on her couch re-watching the same episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix over and over.

Erin

I am a lover of strong female leads who challenge the system and a great book series this reminds me of is The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce. This series is about a young woman in a fantasy world who decides to become a knight despite the fact that it is illegal for women to join the military. She hides her gender and works hard to carve her own path. The series is wonderful and it builds the world that the rest of Tamora Pierce’s works take place in, which I recommend you check out if you are interested.

For something very different, if you enjoy reincarnations of Joan of Arc and manga or anime, you should check out the series Kamikaze Kaitō Jannu orPhantom Thief Jeanne(in English) written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura. This series follows the adventures of a high school girl who is a reincarnation of Joan of Arc herself while she fights demons and has normal high school troubles. It is beautifully illustrated and full of excitement. It is enjoyable as either the manga or the anime and if this has interested you at all, you should check it out!

Co-producer Rory Nachbar is back as a special guest for our episode on Mark Twain’s “The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc” and Wishbone’s “Bone of Arc,” in which we have a Come-to-Jesus about Wishbone’s lack of Jesus in this episode.

About Our Guest

Rory used to live with Erin and Claire in college with great happiness, and is therefore delighted that she can share this podcast experience with them. She works as a Social Media Specialist for Wolfram Research Inc. and spends her free time developing content and promoting Wishbonafide. An avid crafter and painter, she looks forward to the day when she can travel the world and eventually settle down in a little cottage surrounded by books, friends, art, and two cats.

Claire

Did you think the term “Gotham City” to represent New York started with DC Comics? Well you would be wrong. Washington Irving coined the term and gave New York City a lot of its perceived cultural and lexical character. Therefore! I recommend the Batman comics. Sure, they have nothing to do with Rip Van Winkle, and it would’ve been easier to recommend a fireside story. And more respectable. And yet here I am! Batman excellently represents modern urban development and change, just as Irving wrote about the rapid changing face of the world that he knew in New York during the gestation period of our country. Start with Batman: Year One.

You may not be surprised, but there are not many film adaptations of Rip Van Winkle! Shocker. So, after some research, I’m going with Rip Van Winkle (1972) by Will Vinton, which is a darling claymation short that shows Rip’s curious tale in a homey and americana fashion. True to story, and true to form, it represents Washington Irving excellently!

This episode sure is a snooze fest…because it’s about Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” and Wishbone’s “Digging Up the Past” – featuring guest Meghan Beretta!

About Our Guest

Meghan Beretta is a recent graduate of Loyola University Maryland where she earned a Bachelors of Science degree in the field of Biology. She currently spends her time working as an EMT in New Jersey. Meghan’s aspirations are to become a pediatrician, but until then she is content to play video games and learn how to build computers.

There’s a mystery afoot, or a-paw you could say, in this episode featuring the Sherlock Holmes story “The Hounds of Baskerville” by Arthur Conan Doyle and Wishbone’s “The Slobbery Hound” – featuring guest Gabe Carter!

About Our Guest

Gabe Carter works as a graphic designer and multimedia coordinator in Baltimore Maryland. His passion for design, photography and videography has lead him to work for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. He works designing material to support and bring awareness to the young adult cancer community. Hobbies include eating pancakes, visiting apartmenttherapy.com (for hours..like an extended visit, like he’s moving in), playing video games (top games as of now are Destiny and Smite for the Xbox One), and hanging with friends.

Erin

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a master of mystery novels and Sherlock Holmes is such a wonderfully iconic character it’s hard to compare these books to other mysteries out there. The series will be visited again in another Wishbone episode, but feel free to check out other Sherlock Holmes books in the meantime. Otherwise, I personally loved the Nancy Drew series as a fun and not graphic mystery series. Nancy solves many different cases, so there are a number of choices for people new to the series to choose from. She uses ingenuity and creativity to get through many different situations and these novels are interesting to sit down with.

To switch gears, I also highly recommend Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries TV series! It is a show set in the 1920s with a lead female detective, Miss Fisher, whose character is inspired by Sherlock Holmes. There are gorgeous costumes, fun characters, and plots that keep you entertained. There are murders and mysteries all set in such an interesting time period. Please watch if it appeals to you and enjoy!